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Home  / News & Publications /  Michigan Catholic News / 2010 /  Ministry amid the military

by Kristin Lukowski of The Michigan Catholic
Published July 2, 2010

Kristin Lukowski | The Michigan Catholic Fr. Bob Keller shows off a hat given to him from his time in Pakistan, signed by his friends. On the table is a flag flown at the White House in his honor, on his birthday a few years ago.

HARPER WOODS – What men and women returning from battle want most is forgiveness, said Fr. Bob Keller, an archdiocesan priest who attained the rank of full colonel while serving in the Air National Guard. It's not a coincidence that the Church offers that in a concrete way, through the sacrament of reconciliation, he said.

While men and women in the service are deployed, "They want to pray, to know the one who created them will protect them and bring them back (home) safe and sound," said Fr. Keller, the pastor of St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Harper Woods.

This Independence Day, people all over the archdiocese, and country, remember those who served and who are serving our country. Some parishes celebrate with special Masses or recognition given to veterans.

Fr. Keller pointed out that when Jesus was dying on the cross and most of his friends had run away, it was a soldier who said that Jesus was truly God's son. "He knew, being on the edge between life and death, who Jesus was."

Fr. Keller retired from the Michigan Air National Guard in 2006, but the memories of how God worked through him during his 21 years ministering to people in the military are still fresh memories. He served in Italy, Honduras, Germany, Latin America, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and New Orleans, and among the most difficult yet most rewarding experience were his three months at Landstuhl Medical Center, Germany, ministering to the wounded.

At Landstuhl, Fr. Keller saw people with vicious injuries, many suffering greatly. He found it difficult, and told God he couldn't handle what was being asked of him. It was then he learned to give his ministry up to God — and allow them to minister to him, too: "They were so thankful," he said.

He recalls one moment in particular, having been called to the bedside of a young man waking up to discover he was a double amputee. The man was also upset because he was afraid his young daughter would be scared of him.

Fr. Keller said that was an example of God working directly through him, as he had no way to prepare what to say to the young man. "I said, 'You're always her daddy. That'll never change,'" he said. "'You still have a lap. She can sit on your lap and you can hold one another.' This was a God moment, not a Bob Keller moment."

As meaningful as that experience was to his ministry, Fr. Keller, now 63, said he was ordained a priest for Detroit in 1974 with no intention of serving in the military. He was deferred from service because of his seminary studies, and didn't give it too much thought except to see some of his friends leave the seminary to enlist. But a grade school friend from his home parish of St. Veronica, Eastpointe, then serving the Michigan Air National Guard's127th Wing, at Selfridge Air National Guard Base in Harrison Township, kept on him when a position for a Catholic chaplaincy opened up.

Fr. Bob Keller was commissioned in 1985, 11 years after his ordination to the priesthood.

Fr. Keller was commissioned in 1985, around the same time began his pastorship at St. Peter the Apostle Parish, Harper Woods. He maintained leadership of the parish during his deployments, through strong member involvement and other priests willing to help out and share the sacraments. Of course, they joked upon his return that the parish ran smoother when he was gone.

"They were connected to my ministry and what was going on," he said of his parishioners. "That's parish life as I see it — not predicated on one man and his doing everything. It's predicated on Jesus. The Good Shepherd always takes care of the flock."

He spent some time at Selfridge and then with the Air Mobility Command at Scott Air Force Base, in Illinois. On his deployments, he visited very poor countries and helped at medical clinics, even changing bandages on people's legs — which reminded him of the traditional Holy Thursday foot washing. He was in Saudi Arabia when the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks occurred and remembered one man who had been befriended by firefighters at a Manhattan fire station, only to find out all his friends there had died.

He's been in dangerous situations in war zones, and did have to smuggle in things such as communion wine and crucifixes, joking that you can't just go to the Catholic supply store down the street in Saudi Arabia. Serving in the military, traveling throughout the world and meeting people of different cultures and backgrounds, and religions, "forces you to think in ways that are much more universal," he said.

"I really got to love that type of ministry," he said. "It's a whole different perspective of the priesthood, a whole different perspective on conditions in the world."

Seeing bloodshed is difficult, but he said it would be a whole different military without a chaplaincy — especially a Catholic chaplaincy. "The whole spiritual dimension for people would be gone," he said. "We'd just have killing machines. It's comforting to people to have the sacraments."

By the time he retired in 2006, Fr. Keller was also Col. Keller, the first chaplain in the Air National Guard to be promoted to full colonel. He retired with several service, achievement and commendation medals, including a Meritorious Service Medal. Not only did his achievements give him a sense of accomplishment, they validate the need for the chaplaincy in the military, he said.

He's found parallels between the service and Church: In both, members are part of a whole; they use their talents to accomplish something; they come from many different backgrounds; they believe in something bigger than themselves.

He said he was grateful for the chance to go back and forth between the military and parish life, although he misses his service and his many assignments.

"They all had their place. They all had their time during my 21 years in uniform," he said. "They were all developmental stages in my life. It was something to be experienced, to help shape who I am. It was God's plan for me."